The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for controlling or adjusting the configuration or attitude of a seat and more particularly to a seat attitude control apparatus for a motor vehicle which is capable of controlling a multiplicity of aspects or features of the seat. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
With remarkable progress in the electronics technology in recent years, there exists an increasing tendency of adopting electronic control techniques in adjusting automatically the attitude or posture of a seat particularly for a motor vehicle. In reality, such a multi-aspect controllable seat has been already developed and used in practical applications in which many aspects of the seat such as, for example, position of the seat relative to the environment, inclination of the back, height of the cushion or others, positions of air-bag lumbar support, side supports, thigh support and others can be electrically controlled by using a seat slide mechanism, a reclining mechanism, height adjusting mechanism and aerodynamic systems and others.
In the hitherto known multi-aspect control system for a seat, a multiplicity of switches are provided on a side member of the seat in correspondence with the number of the aspects or parts of the seat to be controlled, wherein a desired control is performed by selecting and manipulating the associated one of the plural switches, relying on tactual selection in most cases, as is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53524/1983 (JP-A-58-53524). The number of these switches is increased in proportion to that of the objects to be controlled, which gives rise to many problems such as mentioned below.
As will be readily appreciated, provision of a large number of switches naturally involves troublesome procedure for selecting the desired one, involving the possibility that erroneous control operation might be performed by selecting unintentionally an inappropriate switch. When an occupant of the seat is replaced by another, the latter will have to selectively manipulate many switches one by one in order to reconfigure the seat conformable to him or her by relying on the bodily sensation, which requires very troublesome procedure.